100 – Afterword – Waltz for a Happy Ending (6)
***
“Now look at this.”
Natalie’s inn room.
Maru held a bunch of cigarettes made by processing paradise plants and held scissors in her other hand.
“For people to live.”
Snip.
“I don’t care if you don’t know about this.”
Snip.
“You have to inhale it to make people sick.”
Snip.
In front of Natalie, he was admonishing Nakwoncho by cutting off cigarettes.
Each time the cigarette was cut, Natalie winced and closed her eyes.
“Natalie. Didn’t you say your dream was to become a great warrior?”
“I did… ”
“But what is this? What are you doing?”
“I was wrong… ”
Snip.
“How are you going to become a great fighter by smoking this? Do you buy it like an idiot because the kids are selling it? And did you catch me?”
“Mo, I didn’t know.”
“You don’t know what?”
snip!
“Huh… mi, sorry I won’t do that again… ”
“I’m serious?”
“I am really sorry. Really. I don’t like things that Maru doesn’t like… ”
It’s been 2 weeks since we met each other.
Natalie was already immobilized when it came to Maru’s words.
It is not a hierarchical relationship.
not even a friend
Natalie was relying on the reliable Maru who guided her based on her rich knowledge and wisdom.
Even so, Maru has never tried to tie her up.
I’ve never been forced to do anything other than scolding him for his current Paradise Herb cigarettes.
Still, Natalie was so dependent on him that she couldn’t imagine not having a floor in her life anymore.
There are people who have a charm that attracts people even when they are still.
Maru was such a person.
Like a person who has lived for hundreds of years, he is wise and benevolent in his adult behavior, comfortable when he is with him, and good at what he does, like an expert in his field.
As a result, I came to respect them before I knew it, and since we were the same age, I was even attracted to them rationally before I knew it.
Wanting to do well with Maru, I couldn’t help but listen to what he said.
“Just try again.”
Maru threw the things he was holding in his hands into the trash and hacked them up with scissors.
snip!
snip! snip!
“Then it’s a party. I’m going to leave the party.”
At the declaration of separation, Natalie widened her eyes in fright.
“Sir, I hate it! don’t go out! I will never live again, so trust me!”
“I will believe this just once. Not twice.”
“yes… ”
Maru put the scissors down on the table and brushed his hands.
“This is enough. Shall we talk about something important from now on?”
He smiled brightly as if he had never been angry.
“What are you talking about?”
Natalie looks worried.
Maybe he’s trying to say he’s leaving.
“Sit here.”
Maru held her hand and sat down on the bed side by side.
“Listen to me. me. I have something to tell you Actually, he is a warrior.”
He told me everything openly and honestly.
Even the story that he is a hero, a prince, and that there are three women he likes.
When Natalie heard the news, she was surprised, then surprised, and finally lowered her head with a grim expression on her face.
“no wonder… As long as Maru is you… It must be strange not to have a lover… ”
“I want you to help. Would you like to go on an adventure to find them?”
“Oh, of course! We are allies! It’s strange that the thread doesn’t follow the needle!”
Natalie accepted right away without a second thought.
She was so happy that Maru asked her to go with her.
“Floor! I’ll help with all my might! When are you leaving? tomorrow?”
“Let’s leave right away as soon as your life here is sorted out.”
“yes! Then, starting tomorrow, I will go to say goodbye to my acquaintances! Take money from those who lent it!”
three days later.
The two left Barantos and headed for the Elam continent.
The means of transportation were horses and boats.
It was too much to ride the Griffin.
With Maru, Natalie, and the luggage of the two of them, it was impossible to fly over the open sea for a long time with Lexi’s body heavy.
It would take a long time, but I gave up without regret and bought two horses and rode them side by side.
From the land to the sea, from the sea to the land, transfer several times, receive requests from the villages you stop in between, defeat monsters, and grow Natalie.
In the meantime, three months passed in an instant.
Finally arrived at the continent of Elam.
Along with him, the friendship and affection between the two grew stronger during the time they traveled together.
“You’re going to Keeburton Harbor tomorrow?”
campsite in the woods.
Natalie was staring at a map as she ate by the campfire.
she asked, chewing on what she heard in her mouth.
“Don’t you have to go another way to get to that wizard named Lucy?”
“I have something to pick up on an island near the port. I must have that power.”
“Artifact?”
“I guess so.”
Maru put down the cleanly emptied plate and got up.
He walked over to Natalie and gave her a light pat on the shoulder.
“Please wash the dishes.”
“yes! Leave it to me!”
“It’s nice to be with you.”
“uh… ?”
Natalie was slightly taken aback by the sudden display of affection and smiled softly.
“Me too… ”
She dyed her cheeks red.
The rest of the figure was lovely, so I thought about hugging Maru, but then moved to another place.
It seemed like I was just overdoing it.
The display of affection toward her was not as a lover, but regret and longing for the things he couldn’t do in the future, the admiration he feels for a girl who lives hard as an old man who has lived for over a hundred years, compassion, and a sense of connection.
‘Wait. I’ll make Natalie happy too.’
under the night sky.
Maru made that promise while breathing in the clear forest air alone in the corner.
He didn’t even know what the simple, naive girl was feeling for him right now.
***
The cost of flirting with Natalie last night was unintentional, of course, but it showed up the next day anyway.
I was sitting in a daze after eating breakfast and digesting for a while when Natalie came over wiggling her fingers.
“I want to do some exercise because my body is heavy… Can you help me?”
“that is great. Let’s do it together.”
I decided to gladly assist her in exercising.
I immediately got up and approached her in a bikini-like outfit.
“How can I do it?”
“Ooh, we have to have our backs to each other first.”
“okay.”
Maru turned back without thinking and stood back to back with her.
“hand… catch.”
“yes.”
I clasped my hands.
It’s the first time I’ve held hands with her.
“In this state, sit down so that your knees are level and hold on.”
“Aha. okay.”
Like a squat, I lowered my hips at the same time as her.
I held it for 20 seconds in the state of back to back while taking a posture as if I was sitting in a chair in the air.
“Ugh, that’s hard.”
“Hehe, hehe… ”
For some reason, it feels like Natalie is laughing.
“Slowly stand up.”
“yes.”
“Standing, breathe in, exhale, then go down again.”
I sat down and stood up like that, and after repeating it several times, it was over.
“Next is sit-ups.”
“Can I lie down on the floor?”
“no. I’ll just do it. Maru you are assistant. Hug me and lift me up.”
“like this?”
Maru grabbed her waist and lifted her up.
Natalie threw her upper body back as her legs tightened around his waist.
She was on the heavy side, but Maru’s strong abs were as strong as a stone pillar, making them a good support.
“I will begin.”
“yes.”
“one… ”
Natalie began doing sit-ups in the air, hanging by her legs.
Maru stood holding her legs with both arms.
But this is won…
As Natalie repeated her upper body lying down and standing up, her hips moved up and down, and her groin was in direct contact with her center of gravity, so she tapped her pants.
“Natalie. It seems a bit risky.”
“what? It’s not dangerous. I’m okay. twelve… ”
A strange smile appeared on her lips as she counted.
“after… You’re starting to sweat.”
“Natalie. It’s good, but stop pulling your pants. Ugh.”
Eventually, after two sets of 20 reps, Natalie loosened her legs and lay down on the floor.
“I was holding my waist, and my legs went numb. Help me stretch.”
She raised her legs as she lay down.
It became a ‘b’ posture.
Then, spread both legs as much as possible to make a ‘V’ shape.
Natalie looked up at the floor with a curious look.
“Grab both thighs and press down hard enough to tear the crotch.”
“Hey, I can see everything down there… ”
Natalie grinned.
“Okay. what you see.”
It was a very disturbing exercise method for Maru, who assisted.
***
Rumble, rumble.
A moving carriage was running.
A middle-aged man sitting next to Maru looked at the back of the wagon and turned his head toward Maru.
“Does that person seem to be with you?”
Maru glanced at the man asking with a friendly smile and then looked back.
At a distance, Natalie was following the cart on horseback.
Beside her, Maru’s horse, which no one rode, was running side by side.
In the sky, Lexi was flying in.
“Yes, colleague.”
“okay. But where are you going?”
“Keyburton Harbor.”
“Why are you going there?”
“I have work.”
“Would you mind if I asked what was going on?”
“No, thanks.”
Maru smiled and continued.
“Carlyle, how is your mother?”
“yes? Haha, what are you talking about… ”
Maru pointed to the man sitting next to him and the woman sitting opposite.
“You are Carlyle, and you are Jamilla pretending to be a minstrel. They are the ones who watch over me at my mother’s behest.”
Carlyle and Jamilla wince.
“Ha ha ha ha ha… No, that’s amazing. You knew us… !”
“Your Highness, please forgive me.”
“I don’t care. But I have one request. Carlyle. Do you have any money?”
“Money? Where are you looking to use it?”
“When you arrive at the port, lend me a big boat. I have a place to ride it. If you don’t borrow it, it will run away. See that friend over there? He has a dirty personality and is very strong. If you catch me, it will be a big deal.”
“Heh heh, everything is embarrassing.”
While Carlisle was making a puzzled expression, he was already entering the harbor.
I could see the appearance of Keyburton Harbor in front of me.